


MountainTale

by Novel_Zombie



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other, Reader is basically an OC that I haven't given a name yet, Things Go Wrong, We go down like men!, You Have Been Warned, it's like an onion, my original versions of Undertail characters, no beta!, people will probably die, smut?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:07:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26500396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Novel_Zombie/pseuds/Novel_Zombie
Summary: The last of a bloodline, with a deadly imbalance of Determination and Magic, Y/N only wished to live out her life away from the worries and responsibilities she inherited from her great 'Grandfather', but when the Peabrain that keeps the different universes and the void between them separate begins to fail and allows Anomalies to cross into her humble world it is Y/N blood bound duty to rectify the situation before it implodes upon itself and resets all time and space as it is known across all the universes and all of creation.
Relationships: Papyrus (Undertale)/Reader, Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Comments: 19
Kudos: 45





	1. The 1%

Nothing in the world could compare to the view she got to see every time the mountains thawed and gave her access to the pass leading to the old homestead cabins. Sure, they were hard to get to for most people, requiring 4 wheelers and sometimes only accessible by horseback but the serenity of the locations was totally worth it. After all, the Ebott mountains in northern Montana were nothing to scoff at. Even less so when you got up onto them and could look out over the lush and prosperous valley below.

It may have been early spring, shortly after the thaw, but she could still see the fields of grass, knowing they would soon be filled with purple hues from clover, some filled with barley or golden wheat, all flowing in tender waves as the breeze caressed the tops of the stalks, and it filled her soul with a fond tenderness that was hard to place in words.

Yet still that palled when you could see the crystallin lake off to the north, sparkling in the sun like a thousand pristine jewels as the river flowed through the valley to fill the lake.

It was largely in part to that view that the higher ups of society, from Doctors to foreign Royalties, came to her humble cabins to relax and enjoy some good old fashion outdoor recreation. Well, that is if you exclude the history and legends surrounding Mt Ebott. Those stories may have helped her rent the cabins for just a bit more than a normal retreat of this kind would cost. After all, its not everywhere that you can stay in the same cabins the Boss monsters established when settling in the US way back when. Some say, they were here even before then. Its hard to tell with legends, what is truth and what is a fallacy.

People with deep wallets traveled from all over the world to nestle themselves in a cabin tucked away on the mountain. In honesty, it baffled Y/N on why people were willing to pay her thousands of dollars a day to live like the settlers did back when the west was being won. It’s not like there was any magic left in the cabins on the mountain. That had long since dissipated, along with the remaining ‘pure bred’ monsters. Sure, some of the cabins had the luxury of having a hand pump near by but most of them relied on a close by stream or waterfall caused by the snow melt, but it was definitely no indoor plumbing. Since the magic that lit the cabins was no more, they now used renewable energy sources for the lighting at night, such as power turbines and solar panels and those beasties were the main reason Y/n had to perform maintenance at least once a year.

Yet she couldn’t complain as it payed the property tax on the 25,000 acreage plot her grandmother has blessed her with after she had passed. The land had been in the family for generations and the other living relatives, her mother included, had almost started a blood bath over who got the land and what they should do with it. They even argued with her on the importance of her not accepting the land. Insisting she had some old fashioned and barbaric duty to her family to uphold. It was nothing but some family hubbabalo. They even tried to convince her it was in her best interest to stick with the record contract she had signed long before being gifted this land. But she didn’t like who she became when she performed. Though that was a thought for another day.

Still, her grandmother, in all her wisdom, left it to Y/N with the stipulation that she not marry the “Half-cast" her mother had been trying to arrange her to. Also that she not sell it or turn it into some gosh awful cul-de-sac and that was fine with her. She preferred it this way. She wasn’t exactly a huge fan of people anymore anyways. The quiet of the mountain side gave her a peace of mind she wouldn’t have almost anywhere else in the world.

Certainly it was a lot of land and it had taken her until 1936 (so about 2 years after her grandmother’s death) to find a feasible way to maintain the property without going farther into debit. It was shear dumb luck she had managed to answer the telephone in her, at the time, hungover state of being, when a rather esteemed neurosurgeon by the name of Harvey Cushing called asking if he could rent his ‘usual cabin, you know, the one near the bass with the water fall’, and if that didn’t help shine some light on how her grandmother had survived so well all on her own in a male dominated world, nothing would. So, amongst the basic functions of ranch operations, and her musical ‘career’ she rented out the old cabins on her vast estate to the 1%.

It was because of these folks, with their deep pockets and their desire to run away from their miserable lives in the city by renting these outdated locations did she find herself looking out over the blooming valley. Her breath turning to fog in the chilled mid-April morning air as she relaxed into the saddle with her Jenny (female mule), Dogaressa, benither her and the other two pack mules waiting patiently for her to lead the way once more. Every time she came up to perform yearly maintenance on the cabins she would always stop and look out every chance she got, and every time she did it would take her breath away once more. 

It was weird to think she had been tending this land off and on for 171 years. It was even odder to come to the sudden realization that, despite her running the operation without her grandmother for about 86 years, the view on this mountain never really changed. Sure, there was more paved roads instead of dirt, a few more houses, and businesses up by the lake, outside of her lands boundaries…yet her inherited land still looked much the same as it did back then.

It was hard to tell how long she sat there, looking off into the distance, before there came a rather loud bark from her right side. She jumped slightly, turning to face the red bandana clad dog at her side. Silently she thanked the stars above that the mules she had were all well weathered and accustom to the large and boisterous wolfhound she had accompany her for the last 50 years.

He was young for a familiar as well as excitable, and he lacked a volume control for his bark but he was also intelligent, brave, and loyal beyond compare….well, his loyalty was challenged secondly by his older ‘brother’. A rather lazy Pitbull terroir with what was known as a watch eye that seamed to stare into your very soul and judge you. But really, that never bothered Y/N as she had nothing to be ashamed of. Well, nothing she hasn’t come to terms with at this point in her long life. Despite his judgmental eye, he was rather lazy and apathetic most of the time.

Speaking of the lazy bones, she glanced around to find where her other trail companion had disappeared to. She hoped desperately that he hadn’t decided to ‘rest his eyes’ back down the mountain. She had set out this morning before sun up and still had about 2 to 3 hours to go until she reached the first cabin, she needed to perform mainanance on and she really didn’t want to track back.

“Sans?” she called out softly, growing concerned that she couldn’t see a mostly white stalky dog against the green and brown tones of the forest. Shifting in the saddle she turned and called again, looking back down the trail. A rather unnecessary Panic began to settle with the knowledge that there were Cats (see mountain lions) and other stealthy predators on the mountain that could easily snag the poor potato of a dog without him even knowing they were there. It was as she was about to turn the pack train around and search for him, did she hear a low ‘gruff’ sound from the pack on the caboose mule. She stared in disbelief as the round, yet slightly boxy head of a Pitbull shifted into view. Looking all the world proud of himself as he lay atop the pack bags secured to poor Doggo, his mouth agape in the typical bully smile, both his honey and blue eye squinting at her from the blueish-black patches of fur that encompassed them.

She narrowed her eyes and the stalky dogs antics, wondering just how the short stack had gotten onto the back of the mule without her noticing sooner. He ruffed at her again before resting his head atop a paw to stare at her lazily. It was with this that the pup by her side began to bark at the older k-9 familiar , almost as if lecturing him for his laziness.

“Easy now, Papyrus,” she called gently after a chuckle escaped her, reaching down to pat the head of the disgruntled hound, “ ...it’s alright. So long as we know where he is and he’s not causing any trouble. Though, it is a bit unfair I suppose. Would you like to ride on Dogamy?” she finished, gesturing to the light grey mule behind her. Papyrus’s honey eyes glanced at the mule in question, then to his ‘brother’ with a rather disapproving sense, before barking once, bowing and prancing further up the trail. 

“Hah hah, I got it. You’re such a good boy, Paps. Look at you, always vigilant.” She praised, gently moving the mules into motion after the new sentry roll the lanky white wolfhound placed himself in.

\---BREAK---

… _Sans_ …

Oh boy did he hurt. He hurt so much he wasn’t sure where he began, and the hurt ended. Could he even move? Oh, yup. There were his phalanxes digging into dirt, and twigs…was that grass?

… _Sans_?

A soft yet bitter breeze rustled the greenery around him, stirring up the song birds brave enough to perch on open branches above to warm their feathers in the sun…no, there was no sun in the underground. Just like there sure as hell was no breeze or birds chirping. How hard had he hit his head?

Shifting his weight, he pushed himself up the best he could with white eye lights cast down at the fertile soil beneath him. Why was the dirt so bright? It was dirt. Was that what happened when you saw things in sunlight? Wait, sunlight? Quickly, he rolled over, turning his eye lights upward and the sight caused his world to still. He was resting on the floor of a forest, looking up as golden rays of sunlight filtered and flitted through the branches of mighty pines, and gentle perch. Flitting from branch to branch were the red birds that dared brave the winters, but far above all of that was the tell tale blue and white of the sky. A sky he though he would never see without the kid. His soul thundered against his ribs. He took a deep and rather unnecessary breath. Was this what fresh air smelt like? Air that wasn’t tainted by the lingering presence of that dirty, lying, brother killer? It was divine! The only thing that would make this moment better would be if **Papyrus** was with him.

Where was **Papyrus**?

Panic set in, as he stumbled into an upright position, casting his eyes around for any tell tale sign of his red clad brother.

No, no, he had reset! He had forced it! He had altered the code, so **Papyrus** had to be here. He had to be. _Sans_ couldn’t lose his brother again. Not again.

Then he heard it, loud barking not far away. Non the less he froze, looking in the direction of the sound.

“Easy now, Papyrus,” there, **Papyrus** was there! That person had just said so. He took a step, and used a few short cuts, before he ended up stumbling into the side of a tree, eye lights turned in the direction the voice had sounded only to have his soul still.

Before him was an adult human sitting atop a rather funny looking horse. Her hand extended to pet a tall white, rather wiry looking dog with a scarlet bandana secured about its neck. Sinking back slightly, he hid in the shadow the tree provided.

“ ..it’s alright. So long as we know where he is and he’s not causing any trouble. Though, it is a bit unfair I suppose. Would you like to ride on Dogamy?” the human woman offered, motioning to the light grey horse behind her.

He almost chuckled at how ‘Papyrus’ had responded, reminding him all too much of his brother only in a far more fleshy form. Shifting he watched the woman and her animals move to follow the four legged sentry only to snap a twig. He froze once more, glancing at the oblivious woman for signs that she had heard only to be greeted with an eye that looked all to familiar. A shiver ran his back, feeling all too much like his sins were being weighed, as he stared into the Cyan eye of the four legged beast.

“Sans? See something out there bud?” came the hesitant call of the woman as she glanced back over her shoulder to pear in the direction the dog, ‘Sans’ was fixated on. Her hand moved to what he could only guess was a riffle secured to the saddle bag. He had seen a western or two thanks to **Papyrus** , even if he did prefer Kissie kissie cute. Sans knew that if she caught sight of him she would fire that riffle first and ask questions later.

After a moment the dog (‘Sans’) gave a rather lazy huffing sound. His jowls opened into a wide doggie grin, turning back to his master before laying down on his nest of supplies once again. The woman stared into the forest with piercing eyes for a few moments longer, as Sans rested his back fully against the tree to keep out of her vision, before flicking her eyes once more to the dog.

Something in him told him that he should avoid that human and her piercing gaze or he was gonna have a very bad time. Yet still there was a hope, that didn’t quite feel like his own, that she would notice him. That she would welcome him with affection and understanding. 

He didn’t know what feeling disturbed him more.

“I’m trusting you, Sans. If you get us killed because you were to lazy to tell me something is out there I’ll haunt you for the rest of eternity, got it?” she said with stern affection that caused Sans own soul to echo a thump in his ribcage. Causing him to rub at his chest as he dare shift to peer around the tree trunk. The dog that shared his name gave an airy ‘ruff’ of understanding before settling further onto his perch. With a sigh the woman turned back to the path ahead, moving them out of site but not before the mix matched eyes of ‘Sans’ could flick back to _Sans_ with a very clear expression on his face.

That was a look he knew well. After all he had used it more times than he wanted to count on the kid. Sans knew that dog was a judge, and he would know when he saw one. He was one after all. But to know wherever he was had a judge so similar yet so different to himself was uncanny.

What had he done?

Why did he feel foreign echoes of emotions that weren’t his?

Where was his brother?!

\----Break----

He was the **Great** **Papyrus**! He was definitely not scared! Sure, he didn’t know where he was! Certainly he knew this place, while spectacular and aw inspiring, was wholly new! To top it off he had no idea where his brother was, or the tinny human named Frisk. He most certainly was not frightened, alone, or injured in any way! After all, he was the **Great** … **papyrus**.

That’s what he keep telling himself as he shuffled through the unfamiliar woods. The new place he found himself in was spectacular! There was no doubt; but it was also terrifyingly new. It was bright, and filled with sights and sounds he was unfamiliar with. Not only that but he keep getting the feeling he was being watched by something, yet he couldn’t discern its location.

He missed his brother. _Sans_ would have made some terrible pun to lighten the mood and while Papyrus certainly would have groaned in faux complaint, it would have relived his anxieties emencly.

He worried over the shorter skeleton. After all his brother was lazy with only one HP. What if he had fallen sleep near a cliff and rolled off? What if a human like they told in scary storied showed up and wanted to fight his brother? He wouldn’t stand a chance with such low stats. He, **The Great Papyrus** , needed to be there to protect him!

Yet he was left to wander, lost and terribly alone in this new place.

Well…he had thought he was alone, and that was good news for the hunter that fallowed him. He may be large but he was alone and injured. The hunter could tell by his hobbled stride that he would not be able to run. Good, that gave them more time to play with it before the kill. After all, he was in their territory. How foolish.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I fixed it all...

Y/N reached her destination. All to happy to slip from the Jenny’s back and stretch. She felt weary all the way into her soul. Don’t get her wrong. She loved to ride, and she loved her maintenance visits but her body doth protest the long hours in the saddle. She would certainly feel it tomorrow. Hell, her body made sure she felt it now.  
Yet she would not be able to revile in the amazing feeling of stretching after a long ride. Instead, she was greeted by a loud call of distress. If she hadn’t heard the terrified ‘NYAAAAAHHHHH’ herself, she would have scoffed at anyone who told her about it. She was too high up on private property for anyone to be…unless a hiker had gotten terribly lost…all winter…  
Never the less she was swift in grabbing the short barrel rifle from the saddle and bolting through the trees in the direction of distressed cries. Swerving between trees, leaping over fallen logs, and small trenches made by snowmelt running down the mountain. But when she got to the origin of the scream she only was allowed a moment's pause.  
There, before her was a towering humanoid skeletal monster. A bone-efied monster! Much like you would see in historical paintings, or hear about in legends from long ago, only his features seamed far softer, and if that wasn’t a weird notion for someone made out of bone…  
The monster struggled with a fully grown mountain lion. The four-legged beast had clearly attacked from behind, latching onto the poor monster as it struggled to gain purchase on its prey.  
“PLEASE! I DO NOT KNOW WHAT I HAVE DONE WRONG!” the monster pleaded as it flailed in an attempt to dislodge the willed cat, only succeeding in tripping over a raised root. The sound of the monster's voice, its terrified distress reminded Y/N of a child. Without another thought she raised the rifle and fired a ‘warning shot’, clipping the tip of the demandable cat's ear.  
The cat yowled, leaping away from its prey, only to turn back when it was about 3 feet away, its hiss sounding like a crying infant as it faced down the newcomer who dare interfere with its hunt.  
Damn, she had hoped the damn thing would heed the shot and scooted its boot outa there. She really didn’t want to kill something she wasn’t going to use. After all, though edible, mountain lion meat was wretched in her opinion. Despite this, she racked another round into the lever-action rifle and aimed again. Readying herself to take the kill shot if she had to. But first, she would fire another shot. This time near the cat's paw. Again, the massive cat jumped back as Y/N moved forward with determination.  
“Go on! Get you damn cat! Scram!” she hollered as loud as she could, making lunging motions to the beast, all the while racking another round into the barrel. She only had 2 left after this. This last shot had to scare the damn thing away or she really would need to kill it. But that shot was never taken as the boisterous barking of her hound in a red bandana came bounding to her side.  
The wolfhound took up a defensive position, protecting both Y/N and the large skeleton by her side from the large cat. Booming barks and deep growls sounding from deep within the young dog. Y/n felt pride bubble up in her as the hound forced the cat back, even going so far as to lunge at the thing, teeth clicking as it snapped at the cat. It only took a few moments before that cat realized it had been outmatched and the best course of action to survive was to tuck tail and run.  
“Good boy!” she praised once the cat was gone, brimming with pride at how brave her four-legged companion was when he had come to their rescue. Well, until the sound of a quiet sob and the distinct sound of bones rattling sounded from the ground to Y/N left. Never in her life did she even come close to entertaining the idea that she would be looking into the white eye lights of a Serif again, as it cowered in distress. Looking at her as if she too, would pounce on the poor thing. She watched as soft tangerine tears gathered in the corner of the eyes of the monster, no doubt the physical representation of the magic its soul housed, and she felt her heartbreak and her soul weep for the poor thing.  
“Easy now…” she cooed softly, holding one hand up, the other gently laying the riffle on the ground in the safest manner she could. Her movements slow, eyes locked on the Skeleton before her. “…easy…hey, it’s alright. It’s gone now. Come on, you’re alright now…” she continued to coo, turning her now empty palms up as she inched closer to the terrified being.  
“Can you understand me?” she asked tenderly, now little more than a foot away. The skeleton gave a shaky nod, the ferocity in which its bones rattled settled slightly. “Alright, sweetheart. Your gonna be just fine now. My name is Y/n. Do you know yours?” she coaxed settling on bended knee about a foot from the shaken …male? Not that she thought she would be able to tell with a skeleton.  
Briefly, she realized that she was certifiably insane. Here she was in the middle of the woods, literal hours away from any form of assistance, calming down a monstrous skeleton that could very well be her downfall. This was how dumb ass teenagers in horror movies died.  
“I AM THE G-GREAT PAPYRUS!” The skeleton, no, Papyrus said. His voice gaining volume and confidence as he introduced himself. Y/N smiled at him encouragingly as his rattling ceased.  
“Papyrus, hu? What a strong name! As a matter of fact, our four-legged hero over there is named Papyrus as well!” she said, a proud smile coming over her face as she motioned to the wolfhound that stood guard, peaking in their direction at his name being called.  
“WOWIE! HOW SPECTACULAR! HE WAS QUITE BRAVE IN DEFENDING US AGAINST THE ANGRY FELINE! IT IS TO BE EXPECTED FROM ANOTHER PAPYRUS! THOUGH I MUST SAY, I DO NOT EVEN RECALL WHAT I COULD HAVE DONE TO ANGER THE LARGE FELINE! I WAS SIMPLY LOOKING FOR MY BROTHER, SANS! PERHAPS YOU HAVE SEEN HIM, HUMAN Y/N! HE IS A SKELETON, JUST LIKE ME! THOUGH HE IS MUCH SHORTER! HE IS TERRIBLY LAZY. I SUSPECT HE IS PROBABLY NAPING SOMEWHERE AS WE SPEAK! THE LAZY BONES!” the skeletal Papyrus boomed, becoming far more animated with every boisterous syllable he spoke.  
The fondness in which he spoke of his brother warmed y/n’s heart. It was truly rare to hear such love aimed at a sibling anymore, and it caused her to settle into a seated position next to the large monster; a grin that felt as if it would spit her face settled in place until it clicked in her mind that, though he loved his brother, he had no idea where the other skeleton could be.  
He turned hopeful eye lights to her, mitten covered hands coming up to hover before his chest in hopeful excitement. Her smile faltered slightly, realizing she would have to break the bad news to the poor fellow. With a deep sigh, she cast her eyes down and shook her head in the negative.  
“I’m sorry, Papyrus. You’re the first skeleton I’ve seen up here.”  
Oh, how she wished she had another answer because watching the overjoyed skeleton before she visibly deflates damn near broke her heart in two.  
“But I’m sure we will find him!” she added hastily, “He can’t be that far off, and I’m sure Pap’s can pick up his scent of you have anything of his!”  
Sadly, that plan failed with a shake of the skeleton's head.  
“I AM SORRY, HUMAN Y/N! I DO NOT HAVE ANY OF MY BROTHERS POSSESSIONS WITH ME!”  
Y/n heart sank. A cold gust of wind shifted past, sending a shiver through her. Turning her eyes upward she realized it was getting dark. They would need to take shelter soon. It gets extremely cold this high up, particularly this early in the spring. Not only that but she still had the mules to care for and the supplies to set up. Not to mention it would take around about an hour for the wood stove to heat the cabin.  
“Shit…” she muttered softly to herself, pondering how she would find his brother before sunset. Not only that but Papyrus was probably injured from the tussle with the mountain lion. She couldn’t risk his injuries getting worse.  
She was lost in her thought when she heard a rather loud sniffing sound by the feet of the large skeleton. Turning she saw the lazier of her two familiars, Sans, making a rather big show of inhaling the scent of the deflated skeleton. His mix-matched eyes glanced up at her before sneezing and trotting off into the woods. For a moment she stared after the Pitbull as he disappeared into the undergrowth before his head poked back out with a lazy bark only to disappear once again.  
“Come on, Papyrus!” Y/n said, shifting to her feet before turning a beaming smile to the skeleton next to her, hand outstretched to help him up. “It seems my lazy little comedian might be able to help us find your brother!”  
“OH GOODIE! DO YOU REALLY THINK HE CAN FIND HIM, LITTLE HUMAN?” Papyrus said as he straitened to his full height. Y/n had half a mind to inform him that she was indeed not little, but average for her gender only to realize the skeleton next to her towered over her by no less than a foot and a half. She wondered briefly how much harder it was to breathe from that altitude before realizing the monster next to her didn’t have lungs.  
“He has never let me down before.” She responded, beaming up at the skeleton as she moved to grab the rifle before following her trusted friend and companion.

He had to get to Papyrus! His little brother was in trouble and Sans had no idea where he was! He couldn’t lose him again!  
Sans flicked through shortcut after shortcut, damming the need to see his destination once before ever being able to take a shortcut to the location. With every flicker in and out of this reality, Sans felt his magic dwindle. Soon he wouldn’t be able to shortcut at all and that only filled him with deadly determination to find his brother sooner.  
The loud clap of sound reminded him of the sound of a rifle firing in those westerns. He had been mistaken before. Before he was simply worried, now, however, his soul welled in an unbridled panic!  
“papyrus!” he called out, doing everything in his power to find his brother before he was left with nothing but a red scarf to hold in the place of his brother. He never wanted to have to live that way ever again.  
But his hast was wearing on him. He began to stumble into trees, damn near missing a ledge he had cut up to instead of going the long way around. His soul couldn’t handle this much longer, and luckily he didn’t have to. Not that he knew that as he stumbled, falling heavy and weak on the ground. He felt one of his slippers fly off his foot to land somewhere in the brush nearby.  
Another shot rang out causing Sans's head to jerk up in the direction of the sound. Tears welling in his eyes as he realized the sound was much closer than it had been mere moments before. He was going in the right direction! Maybe he wouldn’t be too late this time.  
His body shuddered as he tried to raise himself off the ground only for his trusty joints to give out from under him. Cursing silently, he tried again, and again…and again only to be greeted by an all too welcoming ground bellow him every time.  
Damn it! He didn’t have time for this! Why did he have to be so weak? Why was his magic so dwindled in this world? He needed to get to Pap!  
In his self-loathed fueled rage, he hit the ground in frustration, before trying again to stand. Once more his footing slip on the snow dampened soil, casting him onto the forest floor with an almost mocking squelching sound.  
This wasn’t how it was supposed to turn out! How many hours had he spent alone in that Asgore forsaken cavern under Mount Ebbot pouring over Reset theories? How long had he studied the formulas? How many times did he run simulation after simulation to make sure his Reset would be the Last Reset? How many years had he spent finding the right algorithms to wipe the Human/ Monster war from existence so that his brother could live above ground? Hadn’t he chosen the right one? The one where Papyrus would never have to see the underside of the damn mountain. A Reset to allow Paps to always be able to look upon the stars instead of the stalagmites that made for cheap imitations of the real thing.  
If Papyrus was here, he would remind Sans that they were indeed above ground. That he had succeeded in that. His brother would make sure he saw the good in the situation. Papyrus was just that cool.  
But Papyrus was somewhere on this damn mountain, in trouble and San’s was helpless to aid his brother!  
Shifting onto his elbows, he tried again to stand only to hear a muffled panting sound directly in front of him and the steady thumping of a tail against the ground. Turning his eye lights to the sound he was surprised to see the Canine Judge before him, happily panting with an all to familiar pink slipper in his mouth. The dog's eyes glinting with understanding instead of the unwavering stare of a Judge. With a huff, the dog dropped the slipper before Sans.  
Sans looked between the dog and the slipper for just a moment before grabbing it and looking at the empathetic looking dog as he sat panting, tail still thumping the ground.  
“hey there, pal. you haven’t seen another skeleton around here have you?” he asked the dog, shifting to sit properly as he slid the slipper back onto his foot. The dog's eyes narrowed as its ‘smile’ widened. Standing the dog gave a rather playful ‘gruff’ sound, moving forward to grab the phalanges of Sans's left hand.  
“what there, buddy. i’m not a che-“ was all Sans could get out before he felt the world around him tilt in an all to familiar fashion. When it settled less than a moment later he wondered if this unsettling feeling in his soul that made him feel as if he would lose whatever he had eaten last was what Frisk had felt when they said shortcuts mad them ‘nauseous’. If so he kinda understood why they didn’t like it. Hell, he didn’t like it. At least, not as a passenger anyway. Not being in control of the shortcut was wholly unnerving.  
“Sans!”  
“SANS!!”  
His head jerked up in the direction of the call. The dog beside him barked loudly, moving off to get the attention of the two-body search party. The dogs white rump wagging so hard hit damn near sent the poor thing staggering. Sans began to right himself now that he was on solid dry ground.  
“over here, bro,” he called as the brush before him rustled violently when his beloved brother burst through with a slight hobble.  
“BROTHER!!!” Papyrus exclaimed as he hoisted the smaller skeleton in a hug. Sans felt his brother’s shoulders shudder as he silently sobbed with a relief that was echoed in the smaller skeleton.  
Sans wrapped his arms around the brother he feared he would never see again. Holding him like a lifeline. How long had it been since he had seen his brother? Years, certainly. Tears once again burned his eye sockets, but he couldn’t let them fall. He had to put on a smile. He didn’t want Papyrus to know. Papyrus couldn’t know…  
“OH BROTHER! I HAVE MISSED YOU!! ARE YOU WELL?” Papyrus asked after a while, gently setting the shorter skeleton down to access him. Papyrus took in his brothers dulled eye lights to his mud-soaked and leaf ridden person and gasped. Stepping forward the taller skeleton began to fret over his brother's haggard appearance.  
“BROTHER! HOW DID YOU GET SO DIRTY? HAVE YOU BEEN SLEEPING IN THE MUD THIS WHOLE TIME? NOW WE MUST WASH YOUR CLOTHS! NYAH! WE WILL NEVER GET THE MUD STAINS OUT OF THOSE DREADFUL SLIPPERS OF YOURS! THOUGH, I SUPPOSE THIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO WEAR NORMAL SHOES!” 

Sans shifted, placing his hands in his pockets with a half-hearted shrug.  
“heh, bro, I’m fine. though, now that you mention it I do feel …bone-tired.” Sans responded, his ever-present grin growing wider at his brother's frustrated groan as he rocked back I no his heels. This felt so surreal. Like nothing had changed.  
This was how it should have been. It felt normal all because Papyrus was standing there. Right there, in front of him. Taking a solid form and not just a pile of dust being scattered in the wind. It was as if the last 7 years of Sans's miserable and isolated existence in the underground was nothing but an unpleasant nightmare. One he would never have to go through again. He had his brother back and he would never lose him again. 

“WE HAVE NOT EVEN BEEN REUNITED FOR 5 MINUTES AND YOU ARE ALREADY MAKING TERRIBLE PUNS!” Papyrus complained, hiding his face in his mittens. Sans felt his soul flood with warmth at the site of his frustrated brother until a shift of movement behind the lanky skeleton caught his eye.  
There she was. The human from earlier. She knelt beside the four-legged Judge, giving him whispered praise as she scratched behind his ears. Sans took the opportunity to access her.  
A wollen cap covered her head, keeping the wind from her ears and her hair tucked securely under it. Around her neck was a silk neckerchief, tied in a rather small but sweet bow at the side. Her bulk was buffered by obvious layers of clothing to fight the cold that hung in the air. A hearty tan vest locked in the warmth but didn’t hinder her movements like a coat would. Her hands warmed by half fingered gloves. Dark blue denum pants sat snug against her legs, sporting cargo pockets on the side. Around her waist was strapped a holster for a rather large looking pistol and a large hunting knife.  
She was clearly ready for anything the ruff terrain he had experienced threw at her. Looking for all the world like she would fit almost perfectly into those westerns Papyrus and him watched when they were still underground. But what really threw him off was how open her posture was as she scratched behind the dog's ears. Her body was tipped toward the dog before her in an attempt to give them privacy, yet her eyes still slipped slightly in their direction and what he saw astounded him. Instead of fear for the two skeletons behind her, her eyes almost twinkled with happiness at the reunion of the two skeletons. The soft smile on her face portraying how much joy their reunion brought her.  
He wanted to deny it. To say she clearly wanted something in return, yet he couldn’t sense a bit of selfish intent. Just joy.  
Just behind her sat the same bandana clad hound as earlier, its ears perked and body standing at high alert as its eyes dutifully scanned the surrounding area for threats. Probably the same threats that had caused the woman to fire the rifle that now rests harmlessly at her feet. Was that why Papyrus was limping?  
Why were there tears in his brother's clothes? Were those scratches on the side of his skull and cervical vertebrae? There are red spots scattered across his skull and the white of his shirt. Where did it come from? What the hell happened to his brother?  
Before his thoughts could continue however his brother interrupted them.  
“OH! HOW RUDE OF ME! BROTHER, THIS IS THE HUMAN Y/N AND HER NOBLE DOGS! THE TALLER OF THE TWO HAS THE SAME NAME AS ME! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT BROTHER? TRULY IT SUITS HIM! HE WAS BRAZEN ENOUGH TO COME TO OUR AID WHEN A LARGE FELINE ATTACKED ME! IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR THE HUMAN AND HER DOG I WOULD SURELY NOT BE HERE! I DO NOT KNOW THE SMALLER DOGS NAME, HOWEVER, HE WAS A GREAT ACCET IN FINDING YOU, DEAR BROTHER! SURLY, IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN US HOURS TO FINE YOU OTHERWISE!”  
At the mention of her name, she looked over at the shorter skeleton. Eyes still bright and a welcoming smile. Standing, she dusted her hand on her pants.  
“Hello. You must be Sans. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She rather fondly chirped, taking a step closer to the brothers, clearly getting ready to hold out her hand but Sans beat her to it.  
“likewise, kid.” Sans responded as she glanced at his proffered left hand for a moment, before outstretching her own to shake it, only to be greeted with a loud farting noise. There was a brief moment when her eyes widened, and her face lit up with a flush of red before chuckles rolled from beep in her stomach. Her shoulders hunched slightly, her hand still clasping his as she laughed at the practical joke.  
“BROTHER!” Papyrus cried in exasperation.  
“well, it’s good to see your funny bone works, kid.” Sans responded with a lighthearted tone, giving his brother a moment to writh with mirth at his antics.  
“I never thought I would fall for that.” Y/N said with one final chuckle, smile bright and face flushed from laughter. Her eyes only having to cast down a few inches to meet his eye lights. It was just a moment, simple and polite eye contact but he felt his soul quiver before it pulsed hard against his ribs.  
It was evident the moment was not one-sided as her eyes widen just a tad as surprised confusion flicked over her face. It was just a few moments that they stood like that, digesting what was happening before it seemed to occurred to her they had yet to release their hands. Glancing briefly down with a dawning expression of horror before Sans felt his hand fall to his side as she withdrew hers hastily. A soft ‘ruff’ sound from her right caught her attention. Tipping her head to the hound beside her. It was as if they had a silent conversation before she turned her eyes to the sky before turning troubled.  
The look didn’t sit well with Sans and he hatted that it didn’t.  
“I don’t mean to be rude and cut this short but we have to get back to the cabin before it gets dark. I don’t know about you fellas but I don’t fair so well lost in the woods when it's 15 bellow.” She stated as she moved back to pick up her rifle as the blue and violet hues of nightfall took over the sky. Swiftly she crouched next to Sans, the dog eyeing her lazily as puffs of hot air came out of his open mouth. “Sans, do you think you could take our new friend Papyrus back to the cabin so he doesn’t have to walk that far?” she asked the dog before turning to the skeletal brothers. “That is if you're alright with that?” she asked, addressing Papyrus before explaining. “See, my little comedian here has a trick where he can take, well…a shortcut to certain locations. One of those being the cabin not far from here. I would ask him to take both of you but he can only do one person at a time.” She stood and reached into a pocket of her hearty looking blue jeans, withdrawing an old skeleton key. “This is the key, so you can go right in and get off the injured leg of yours.” She finished, stepping closer to Papyrus, holding the key out to him.  
Papyrus started at the key a moment with hesitation, before glancing back to his brother in an uncharacteristic show of uncertainty that had Sans on guard. Papyrus had all the confidence in the underground where he knew what to expect, but clearly lacked much of it in an unfamiliar setting. Not that Sans could blame his brother. If the state of his clothing was anything to go by, he had had a rough time of the dimension they were currently in and that thought caused a fit of deep anger and protectiveness to flare in Sans's soul.  
Papyrus knew that empty-eyed look and it didn’t bode well for anyone present. It was with what he hoped was a friendly face, he turned to his rescuer.  
“THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION OR MY WELL BEING, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM HONORED BY YOUR OFFER! IT WOULD BE RUDE OF ME TO REFUSE!” He said, reaching for the key as the human girl seemed to relax a bit and his brother's eye lights returned.  
“Great! It has a wood stove so it won't be warm. But there are plenty of blankets in a tote by the beds. The light switch should be right next to the door on the right when you first walk in. Sans,” she said, turning to the dog who gave a ruff of the agreement before meandering over to take the end of Papyruses scarf in his mouth.  
“WOWIE! YOUR NAME IS SANS T-“ the tall skeleton exclaimed before disappearing with the K9.  
That left Papyrus, Sans, and y/n standing in the woods with a rather unsettling silence.  
“say, kid, how far away is that cabin?’ Sans asked with a shrug, his hands moving to settle back into his blue jacket.  
“Oh, um, not that far really.” Y/N started as she began to lead the way through the brush, Sans, and Papyrus following at a steady pace. “It’s just a lot of uphill and underbrush to work through. I can imagine your tired too, but I just don’t want him to hurt himself any more than he already is.” She justified, almost sheepishly, moving to hold a branch out of the way of the shorter of the two skeletons.  
As he moseyed passed her she took the opportunity to access his person properly only to have her bright mood from his gag earlier diminish at his haggard appearance and his slight limp. His blue hooded jacket and the white fur around the hood had definitely seen better and far cleaner days. Dirt smudged on his bones, his once white shirt torn in a few places. Mud coated his black shorts and his rather un-usual footwear. She would have to get the two of them down to the main house (house, ha, who was she kidding, it was a mansion), tomorrow. For now though…  
She had missed the limp earlier, so she hadn’t asked her little comedian to come back for the second skeleton. This left her to rack her brain for a solution before it accrued to her that she had a monster candy or two in her pocket. Monsters as they once were may be gone but their magical food certainly stuck around through their mix-breed descendants…sort of. It wasn’t as potent as they say it used to be. But the few she had in her pocket had come from before her grandmother passed and her grandmother was amazing at making them, unlike her mother or herself.  
Sans stopped to glance back at the human woman curiously, browbone raised in question.  
‘everything ok kid?’ he asked, watching her pat down her pockets, clearly searching for something.  
‘Oh, yeah, just a moment…’ she said as she dug into the side pocket of her cargo denim before pulling a small golden wrapped candy out with a triumphant cry before trotting up to Sans.  
“Here! I forgot I had this! It should help take the edge of that leg of yours!” she said excitedly, handing the small parcel to the confused skeleton.  
“is this…monster candy?” he asked, recognizing the small parcel, but not believing it. Were there other monsters in this dimension?  
“Yah! Well, sort of. It’s the same recipe, but my grandmother made it so it’s not as strong as the ones made by full-blown monsters.” She was supplied with a shrug. “It won't heal you fully or anything. The most that little morsel will do is take the edge off the pain a bit and give a small boost to your magic. I keep them around in case Sans, uh, my Sans, not you, obviously…stars, that’s going to get confusing…” she ended in a mumble more for herself than anything, before continuing with a shake of her head “ anywho, in case he needs a bit of a boost. He can be kind of lazy sometimes though, to be fair he is getting older, but they help a bit with that.”  
Sans listed as he unwrapped the candy, studying it for a moment before popping it into his mouth as he watched her move further up the mountain.  
“so, there are monsters around here?” he asked nonchalantly. Hoping she wouldn’t catch on that he wasn’t from this dimension.  
“What? Oh, stars no! There hasn’t been a true monster for decades! Not even up here! Well, until you fellas showed up anyways.” Ah, so she knew something was amiss with their appearance.  
‘clever girl’, he thought with a note of impressed pride before he banished the thought. It wasn’t that hard to figure it out if monsters were no longer around.  
“The closest you’ll get nowadays is the Half-cast’.”  
“half-cast, hu?” Sans pressed casually.  
“Yeah you know, the descendants of monster human couples?” she informed, hesitating for a moment. “Well, I guess most of us are decedents of those couples somewhere along the lines. The ‘Half-cast’ are the decedents of the Boss monsters that had human relationships.”  
“what’s the difference?”  
“Well, descendants from regular monstered lost their physical ‘monster’ attributes. Now they can kinda harness magic, but not really. It causes more harm than good when they do. As for the Half-cast, they carry lots of attributes…” She hesitated as if she was debating on whether or not she should finish that thought, before adding in a soft distracted voice. “…most of the time.”  
Sans couldn’t help but feel there was a cryptic meaning behind that softly spoken comment.  
“Like the Drremurr family.”  
He felt his soul bottom out at the familiar name. Just how many familiarities were there in this dimension?  
“They came from Boss monsters and have keep a tight rain on their, well, for lack of a better word, breeding. So they still have horns, claws, some even have markings unusual for humans. But what’s most impressive is their magical attributes. From what my grandmother said, they still hold all the abilities of their monster ancestors. They just look more human. Though she did mention she was worried for the youngest, Asriel.”  
Wait…wasn’t that…  
“They say he has too much human determination in his soul and if it’s not monitored closely, well…” she hesitated again, clearly catching herself from giving information that Sans shouldn’t be privy to. Which in turn made Sans wonder how this human woman even knew so much, “...I’m not sure, but it can’t be anything good.”  
They lapsed into silence for a few moments. Not that either minded. It allowed Sans to truly digest the information the Human woman before him had given him. Monsters and humans had children…he didn’t know that was a possibility. Though he could see how it eventually had become a necessity. But that also meant that there were humans here with magical abilities paired side by side with determination and that in and of itself was a terrifying idea. Both abilities were powerful in their own right, but to have souls sturdy enough to house both…  
Still, there was the matter of how her grandmother knew the Drremurr family well enough to know Asriel by name. How close is her family to them to know about the imbalance of Asriel’s soul? He supposed he should ask for her family name. That could lead to some answers.  
His thought process was interrupted however when she glanced over her shoulder. One hand latched into a sturdy looking low handing branch, her other outstretched to him as her feet planted themselves in a wide stance, clearly reading herself to help him up the small, but steep slope.  
“heh, what a gentleman.” Sans teased lightly, taking her hand as she helped him up the ridge, earning him a lighthearted chuckle.  
“At your service, milady.” She responded, before falling in to step just slightly ahead of him.  
“So, how’s your leg feeling? Any better?” she asked softly, peeking over at him.  
“eh, it’s better.” He responded with a shrug of his shoulders. Hands once again finding themselves in his pockets.  
“Oh…that’s good.” She said, hesitating once more. She looked like she wanted to say something more, but hesitated, looking mildly troubled. Again the look that warped her pretty face caused a rather unsettling burn in Sans soul. A feeling he would rather smother before it got too intense.  
“what’s on your mind, kid?” he asked despite himself.  
“Oh, um…I’m sorry that you had to walk with me to the cabin. I didn’t notice you were injured before and I should have considering how much mud you have all over you.” She responded softly. Looking far too guilty for Sans's souls.  
“nah, kid. it’s not your fault. You were worried for my bro, and i apricate that, kiddo. he may seem pretty confident but he’s still inexperienced if ya’ catch my drift. thanks for looking out for him when you didn’t have to.” He said, allowing the gratitude he felt to ring in his words. He shouldn’t imagine what would have happened if she hadn’t shown up to help Pap. Sure, he was a big skeleton, could handle himself but whether he wanted to hurt whatever attacked him was a different story. Paps was too kind-hearted to hurt anything. That’s why he would never cut it in the Royal guard. He believed, no matter how far astray someone went, they could be better. He believed it so much that his dying words to that fucking brat were words of encouragement that they could be better.  
He felt the anger settle in his soul for a moment before he remembered he was no longer in that timeline. They would no longer have to deal with that dirty brother killer. It brought him a bit of twisted satisfaction to know that the kid would be left to wander in the underground without their help this time. Knowing they would die a brutal death multiple times at the hands of his friends brought an unsettling soothing feeling to his soul as his grin widened just a bit too much. The kid could get dunked on for all he cared.  
On the other side of that coin, they had run into a kind-hearted human right off the bat and that worried him, no matter how much his soul called out to hers. Humans were never good news. The only reason he hadn’t killed Frisk was because of the promise he made to Toriel. A promise he ended up breaking multiple times in the golden hall.  
He had trusted the kid after a bit in that first run. They had been kind, going so far as to flirt with most of the residents of the underground. He had truly felt by the end that they could be friends, but then they were given an option. A Reset; a chance to start all over again starting from the moment they fell into the underground and what did the brat do? They let their curiosity get the best of them. It still sickened him to know the kid had thought it better to slaughter the underground, again and again, and for what? To fulfill some morbid curiosity?  
He had trusted them and that had been a mistake. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think so far?
> 
> Also, I think I caught all the mistakes but if there are more you guys noticed to the point this is unintelligible, just let me know and I will go through the chapter again to the best of my ability! 
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to stop and read!


	3. Night Sky

It was cold. So very cold.

He couldn’t feel anything other than the icy chill that clung to his bones casing a heavyweight to settle in his soul. Something told him that it should hurt, but all he felt was the heavy numbness the cold brought.

The faint sound of tree branched shifting and brushing against each other was carried on the braes. The rush of a small waterfall and the babbling of the stream that flowed from it was soothing to his soul despite the clattering sound of bones that was steadily growing in volume.

What was that smell? It was…sweet, yet with an…earthy undertone. Like freshly turned soil… but that sweet smell was...

There was also… pine perhaps? Maybe other evergreen trees as well, but he wasn’t sure.

The presence of something moist and cool...almost as if it was constantly renewing itself, caressed his sense of smell. It was…fresh? He couldn’t recall a time where something had smelled so…clean, untainted, natural.

He wanted to see the area he was in. It smelled and sounded absolutely otherworldly. In his soul, he knew it was as beautiful as his other senses told him it was. But opening his eyes was hard. He simply didn’t have the energy but he wanted, **_no_** , **needed** to see the new place he was in. That need filled him with something far more concerning than being cold and tired; Determination.

A vast space of colors, ranging from a light azure to a deep Safire stretched above him, speckled by brilliant flecks of argent, framed by branches, varying in species and color, swaying in the wind. The sight above him seemed to stretch out for eternity. Offering boundless possibilities with its ethereal light that lit up the night without the slightest hint of light beyond the starlight that peppered it.

So that was what the sky looked like. What space looked like. It was…

It was…

It…

“ _Sans_!”

Who?

“ _Sans_!”

…He recognized that voice…didn’t he?

“ _Sans_!”

It was more frantic this time…almost desperate.

_“Come on bro, where are you?”_

Oh, he knew who that was…maybe…

No, he was sure it was…

“ ** _Papy_**?” he heard himself call out.

W-was that really his voice? It sounded so…frail…so…tired, and he was tired. He really wanted to close his eyes again, to drift back asleep, but not if it meant the sight of the nighttime sky would be gone the next time he opened them. No, he had to keep them open. He was positive this was a once in a lifetime view and he was mesmerized by it.

“ _Bro_?” the voice responded, the crash of branches and crunch of levees interrupting the calming sounds that he had woken to.

His brother was worried. He didn’t need to be. He was the…the…the Sans? No…

“ _Sans_?” his brother called again, much closer than before. But he still sounded stressed, panicked almost.

No. he wasn’t Sans.

Well, he was, but he wasn’t Just Sans. He was **The Magnificent Sans**!

“ ** _PAPY_**!” he called, stronger this time even if it still sounded distant and weak to his ‘ears’.

A splash sounded next to him as the shadowed sillowet of his brother, clad as always in his tacky orange hoodie, shifted into view. His brother's head blocking his view of the most awe-inspiring thing he would ever see.

 _Papyrus_ felt his soul still at the sight of his big brother, head cradled by rocks as crisp water that was just barely warm enough to be called liquid rushed over his body. **_Sans's_** armor did nothing to keep the white shirt underneath from soaked through, leaving it to cling to his bones. Near the collar of the battle body was the faintest of white glow.

 _Papyrus_ didn’t need to perform a check to know his brother's HP was slowly being depleted by the chill in that water. His tell-tale rattling shedding light onto the fact that the smaller skeleton had been lodged, unconcise, in this unforgiving location for a very long and undetermined amount of time. The dusting of blue that covered his now ashen bones showing his souls attempts in keeping warm with little to no success. His typically vivid blue eye lights now dull and almost faded even though he stared awestruck at the sky above.

How long had his brother been laying in this unforgiving water?

“ _hey, bro_.” _Papyrus_ said, kneeling and scooping the smaller skeleton into his arms. Holding **_Sans_** close, _Papyrus_ pulled what little magic he had left from his soul and applied it to his brother in a desperate attempt to keep the other's soul from flickering out of existence. He would be damned if his brother dusted on him now.

“ **Papy…the sky. That’s the sky.” Sans** breathed, lifting his right hand in a rather limp wristed motion to the sky. _Papyrus_ turned his head to the sky for a brief moment, taking in what may well be the last site his brother ever saw.

 **“It’s astonishing!** ” he breathed, causing _Papyrus_ to nod in agreement before a whisp in the sky caught his eye lights.

Was that…smoke?

 _Papyrus_ took a deep breath in, carful to cent the air, and sure as shit, there was a fire nearby. Fire meant warmth that his brother desperately needed or he wouldn’t pull through.

“ _Hang on, bro.” Papyrus_ said softly, gripping his brother tighter as the smaller rattled desperately in his arms. Taking a step in the direction of the smoke, he felt the usual shift before he was standing in a completely different spot than a moment ago. Again, and again he slipped his brother and himself through the thin cracks of time and space, bringing them ever closer to the source of the smoke. Praying to anything that would listen, hoping he had enough magic left to get his beloved brother to someone who would help.

“THAT IS AMAZING! I CAN NOT BELIEVE THIS DOG HAS THE ABILITY TO HEAL WOUNDS! BROTHER! IS THAT NOT FINOMINAL?” Papyrus’ voice practically boomed inside the moderately sized cabin causing almost all other inhabitance of the building to flinch- save one.

“yah, bro. you could say it’s ast-Hound-ing.” Sans chipped in, much to his brothers’ chagrin and DW’s amusement. The shorter skeleton lounged on one of the bunk beds, watching as the wolfhound pressed his nose to another one of his brothers’ injuries. The hounds’ eyes lit once more with the golden orange hue that was now associated with the dogs’ magic.

Huh. Dogs, not monsters mind, that have fully developed magic…guess he’s seen everything.

The sound of water dripping hit his ‘ears’ as Y/N raised a small bowl from the large black pot she had set to warm on the woodstove. She paused to snag a rag from a nearby drawer before moving the bowl and herself to kneel before Papyrus.

Papyrus took the opportunity to take in the humans’ visage once more now that her vest, coat, hat, gloves, and holster now hung by the cabin door. His eye lights traveled over sturdy shoulders, that boasted a proud posture. Strong arms were hidden in long sleeves and an ample bust (he shouldn’t be looking at that) was accentuated by a very confusing plaid pattern. Was it like stripes back home? Was she underage? He should not have looked! Certainly, he wasn’t doing it for dishonorable reasons! He simply wanted to access how strong she was!

After all, she had to be a great warrior! Her and her hound, the other Papyrus, had defeated the large feline so easily! But they were also kind. They hadn’t wanted to hurt it, simply frighten it away from his person. Afterward, she had helped him settle his fears and guided him to his brother! She had even offered them a place to stay without hesitation! She was so cool! Truly as kind as she was brave!

She smiled at **Papyrus** so kindly and worried for his wellbeing, and now her powerful legs stressed agained her pants as she crouched before him. Lifting the rag as if to wipe the blood splatter from his face, setting the bowl beside her, only to hesitate.

“Is it alright if I clean your face, **Papyrus**?”

The softly spoken question caused a soft hue of tangerine dust **Papyrus’** bones as he felt his souls heat just a bit in his chest. If he was one to sweat, he probably would be with how nervous he suddenly was. Her kind eyes were directed solely at him and with such tenderness, he didn’t know what to do. But he should! He should not let this get to him! He was **The Great Papyrus** , after all! An while he was unsure of the whereabouts of his dating manual, he would not falter in the face of his adversary in love! He had faced the unrelenting flirtation of Frisk! Certainly, he could handle this adversary as well!

So he did the most logical thing he could think of…he nodded.

 **“C-CERTAINLYY HUMAN!” Papyrus** stammered slightly much to the heartfelt amusement of his brother _Sans._

Y/n shifted slightly closer, lifting her now free hand to tenderly tip **Papyrus’** head to the right. Her other hand brought the cloth to the larger skeletons face, whipping gently at the exposed bone in much the same manner a mother would. Her movements slow, her touch light, but not so light as to not accomplish the task at hand.

 _Sans_ chuckled as the Cyan dusting on his brother's face slowly grew in intensity the longer Y/n tended to him. He felt his soul warm as he watched the two- ONE, _singular_ most important person in his life get pampered over a few little scratches and a moderately depleted magic level. Though she had given his brother a few of the candies she had left in her pocket when they had reached the cabin, **Papyruses** magic was still rather low. A side effect, no doubt, of the Reset that had brought them to this dimension in the first place.

Movement near the center of the room caught _Sans's_ eye as the four-legged judge slowly roes to his feet. His mismatched eyes trained on the door as the fur down his back began to rise. _Sans_ felt a shiver run his spine once more, the dogs’ intent so heavy in the air Sans could almost taste it without summoning his tong. He was grateful that that was not how the dog had responded to him in the woods. Though he supposed it was because the dog couldn’t see what was outside the cabin. He had been able to see and properly Judge _Sans_.

The wolfhound had noticed something off as well, turning away from **Papyrus** to stare intently at the door. Both dogs’ ears perked a millisecond before a loud thud was heard against the door soon accompanied by the muffled sound of rattling.

 **“HUMAN, I THOUGHT YOU SAID WE WERE ALMOST A DAY AWAY FROM OTHER PEOPLE!” Papyrus** asked, voice displaying his confusion with a tilt of his head. Another bang and the muffled sound of an all too familiar rattling came from the other side of the door.

“We are…” she said softly, moving swiftly to the rifle propped against the wall after motioning for Papyrus to stay near the injured skeletons. On her heal was Sans, crouched slightly as he awaited his master's command. She moved to the window, rifle in hand, peaking through the unimaginably old curtains only to gasp. She propped the rifle on the wall quicker than she had snagged it, flinging the door open and barely managing to catch the person who collapsed inside.

With a grunt she shifted the weight to drag the orange and blue mass inside the cabin, the k9 judge quick to shut the door the moment the person's feet cleared its path. Her hound moved away from the skeletal **Papyrus** with a purpose as he nosed open the tote housing the blankets. He snagged one gently in his teeth and loped over to lay it in front of the woodstove. Nosing it open to the best of his ability, and the quick actions of Papyrus as he stood do help lay another blanket down before the body, no, bodies where lay before the warmest part of the cabin.

“WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?” Papyrus asked, wringing his mitten clad hands slightly, looking down on the two skeletons that rattled violently on the ground.

“I need you to move him,” she pointed to the orange-clad skeleton. “away from this fella. They are both soaking wet and we need to get these clothes off of them so the water can’t drip onto their souls anymore.” She said with a collected authority that neither of the brothers expected. Yet **Papyrus** was thankful for it none the less as it calmed his nerves to have a clear task to perform. So he moved to follow her orders. After all, following orders was something he could do.

“Him first.” She stated, motioning to the smaller of the two new skeletons. “Once the clothes are off, make sure they are as dry as possible before wrapping them in blankets.” She continued as she stoked the fire of the wood stove to a proper blaze to warm the two rattling skeletons.

“Make sure I can access their chest. I’m going to need to work directly with their souls.” She added, her concern evident seeing as, though she didn’t know a lot about pure-souled monsters, she knew that skeletons should not be affected by the cold. That is unless their soul was directly exposed to it for a Very long time.

That, at least, was her understanding anyway.

Glancing back at Papyrus as he executed her orders flawlessly, she considered for just a moment, what these two could have possibly gone through to get into the condition they were in now. To have brought them to her cabin doorstep on the brink of dusting.

Yah, ‘whatever had brought them here’…she was not dumb. The two quivering skeletons on the floor were almost exact doppelgangers of the two skeletons she had met just hours ago and that was Definity no coincidence. Her half-assed deductions and a large part of her instincts told her this was a dimensional issue. She should know at least a bit about it seeing as she had spent long hours in her ‘great grandfathers’ lab. Not to mention reading his study journals for her not to understand the possibility of cross-dimensional rifts. But what she could not understand, was what had caused it. Dimensional rifts were a really big deal and could cause a vast amount of damage ranging from, well, doppelgangers all the way to entire detentions imploding upon themselves before creating a void that would inevitably destroy any dimensions even close to its special flux.

Not like she had time to truly speculate right now. There were lives on the line and the clock was ticking.

There was a heavy thudding sound to her right as her little comedian returned with a large wooden case, handle sitting heavy in his mouth. She was never so glad to have the soul bond of a familiar with the two dogs as she was now. She knew she would not have been so calm if she had had to figure out how to perform every task that was needed to do in such rapid secession without their aid. With these thoughts flashing through her mind, she quickly snagged the heavy case, lifting it from the ground like an everyday handbag with a curt ‘good boy’ before setting the clearly heavy article on the table. Her mind quickly shifting to all the things her grandmother had taught her about healing and the hypothesized treatments her great grandfather had devised.

The case stood as tall as her torso and at least twice as wide. It was clearly very old. Made of heavy oak. As she moved it the distinct sound of clinking glass could be heard shifting inside the massive ‘kit’. With the clatter of latches being haphazardly unlatched and the squeak of small hinges, she opened it to reveal a traveling holistic medical kit. A kit, that without proper training, was nothing but bullshit. But for a monster who knew healing magic or a well-versed Mage, the kit could save a life or 100.

Y/n moved with an accuracy that could only come from hours of practice. Grabbing herbs from storage bottles and deftly measuring out the amount she needed into the stone mortar. As she worked so did Papyrus. He striped the unknown skeleton with a barrage of apologies for the breach of their privacy, before drying them with a few blankets brought over by his brother before tucking dry blankets around ailing skeletons.

Before the skeletons could be covered, however, each dog took a position next to one of the weary monsters. The hound lay next to the smaller of the two skeletons, eyes ablaze with magic. While the comedic Pitbull tucked himself against the lankier of the duo, his single blue eye shifting between Cyan and lemon color.

_Sans_ was impressed. The two k9 had acted as if they knew what was expected of them moments before she needed it. He could not help but wonder how, and why, that was. He watched as the two skeletons on the floor were slowly encompassed by the color of their respective k9 keepers. Though he noticed the blue-ish yellow was far fainter in its intensity. Indicating that his k9 doppelganger was as shit at healing as he was, but Papyrus’ K9 counterpart practically glowed with it. So, it made sense that the stronger of the two healers would settle themselves next to the skeleton who looked moments away from dusting.

Again, Sans was filled with curiosity with how intelligent they were to know which of the monsters needed the best healer. Was it instinctual? Was it years of training? Or was there something else that he was missing?

A shift in movement from Y/N caused Sans to look up as she moved to the pot full of water they had placed on the wood stove earlier.

Whatever he was expecting when he looked up to her this was not it. Her eyes were no longer the color of a typical human sclera. Oh no. Now it was black, not white, that greeted him. Each eye shimmered with well-restrained magic use as she dipped a bowl into the now boiling water with no regard for her safety and relocating it over to her workstation. The sound of the mortar and pestle grinding the chosen herbs joined the popping and crackling of the overworked woodstove.

She had told him that ‘humans’ could use magic. Well, the ones who were the offspring of monster/human couples. But seeing it was a whole other story. Here, right here, was a mostly human ...being, performing healing magic that took decades for most monster alchemists to learn, with an uncanny proficiency.

He watched, perplexed and mesmerized as she poured the contents into two glass vials before corking them, bunking them into the water beside her to wet the cork without the slightest bit of concern for her now scolded hand before she set the glass vile into the red hot coals near the opening of the stove, ignoring how the flames licked at her flesh. Swiftly she moved back to the kit to complete another remedy. This one a shimmering galaxy in a vile.

Y/N grabbed log tongs from beside the stove to retrieve the glass bottles. The bright glow of fire magic, swirling with a hearty green, seemed to boil inside as they were placing into the now cooled bowl of water. She only let them rest long enough to put the tongs back before grabbing the vials once more, the unsettling smell of burnt human flesh filled the air as she dropped between the two unconscious skeletons. Shaking the vials vigorously.

With scorched but steady hands she reached for the taller of the two, tipping his head back just enough for his jaw to open slightly before uncorking one of the vials and allowing its now red velvet contents with its green shimmering specs to flow into his mouth. Once done, she proceeded by turning to the worse off of the two before repeating the same steps as with the other vile of the same brew. In the wake of the medicinal cure she had concocted being administered did the faintest of red-tinted green glows rise to the cheekbones of the two skeletons.

After eyeing the smaller of the two new guests she realized she would have to perform an emergency soul tether to keep the small skeleton from dusting. Possibly even a soul stitching operation. Her hands moved without thinking, her mind whirling a mile a minute trying to keep herself calm and remember the details of the experimental procedure that could very well save this skeletons life.

Gently she lay her left hand above where the shorter skeletons soul should be. She closed her eye, her right hand moving to her own chest, quelling the momentary panic she held for pulling the soul from the monster below her. Part of her was terrified the skeleton bellow her would dust if she pulled their soul out too quickly or too slowly, or even with a bit too much force but she would need to be confident in this if she was going to save them.

She felt the pull from deep within her as she pulled forth her own vibrant soul while she eased the soul of the skeleton out as well. Her right hand drawing away from her soul with multiple lifelines of magic tethered to her fingers. Her fingers deftly wrapped the soul strings around the inverted, dulled, fractured, and fading white monster soul; willing herself not to panic because that would solve nothing.

They were just soul tethers, the equivalent of a soul to soul iv. They wouldn’t leave any permanent connections once she was finished. Just soul tethers, even if they felt so intamen…particularly when wrapped around a soul as …cute and bubbly as this one. If it wasn’t so weak the happy feeling she got from the soul would have caused her to fall into a fit of giggles simply by being nearby.

Once ‘stabilized’ by her soul strings she examined the soul a little closer, her hands giving off a deep green hue as her magic gathered there. Again, her right hand moved to her soul to pull forth another soul tether but this time it seemed almost sharp at the end, creating a needle of sorts. She disliked doing this sort of ‘operation’, in theory as it was harder on the soul… but she couldn't risk creating a soul bond just yet by sinking herself into the skeletons soul….unless…should she? Could she?

Yes, she would if she had to, but she would prefer not to. A true soul bond was something that could only be broken in death. This, in theory, however, was temporary. Sure, there was a risk that there would be the weak feeling of a partial soul bond but it would fade with a week or two…

...in theory…did she really trust the theory of her great, grandfather, Dr. Gaster?

Yes.

It was just a temporary thing... She could live with that…, right? She could handle the aftermath of losing a partial soul bond? Even if it is short-lived? It’s not like it was going to leave a huge imprint on her soul as being so close to something every soul yearns for only to have it fade away as if nothing happened. Leaving only a memory of what it would be like to be bonded…yah, nothing too heavy. hah...hah hah…ha…

No, that’s not what matters! She could do this! But most importantly she could do this without allowing her instincts to drive her to bond with a skeleton she didn’t even know! She could live with the memories of a partial bond if it meant keeping someone alive! She wasn’t going to let them die! She just needed the ‘thread’ to help keep his soul from shattering further as the ‘medicine’ she gave him worked its literal magic and then…

And then, in about two weeks’ time, it would fade…into a hollow memory…

But she had decided she would save their life before she had even started making the magical concoction; even if it cost her, her own. She wouldn’t back down halfway through because of a few theoretical problems with the experimental ‘encounter’ she was having.

She felt the telltale acid-like burning to her eyes as her magic flared. She saw the dust that was being created as her soft tissues on both her hands, face, and chest where her magic was the most concentrated, but she paid it no mind. Her entire soul was far too wrapped up in saving the life before her to notice the effect her efforts had on her own wellbeing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone knows how to insert different fonts into the text layout I would greatly appreciate it if you told me how.
> 
> Please enjoy!


	4. Out of her element

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another long one. I think we should all just assume I am going to write really long chapters for this one.

The tree's subtle shifting was the only indication there was going to be a sudden and bitter breeze blowing through the cave, chasing the warmth that had accumulated there thanks to the fire to be whisked away as if it had never existed. Leaving only the warm red yellow and gold hues to give off a faux idea of warmth.

“Damn it all…” Sans groused in a hushed whisper, digging the tips of his phalanges into the dirt that lay beneath him, glaring daggers across the cave at his younger, and far prissier brother. The very same brother that currently lay atop his jacket as an impromptu bed while he was left on the windy side of the damn cave in nothing but his shorts, shoes, and his thread bear red turtleneck sweater. His bones rattled slightly at the chill that tried to cling to his soul. Skeletons might not feel much cold or heat, unless they wanted to, but they also typically had their ribs good and covered. If the elements could get to their souls they were as vulnerable as the rest of the damn populace.

What he did for fucking family.

Another breeze rustled through his side of the cave and it only further pissed him off. Gritting his teeth, he sat up, patting his shorts down for the cigarettes he knew where in there he moved closer to the entrance of the damn cave. If he was going to be cold he may as well make it fucking worth it, right?

He huddled himself against the shelter the cave entrance gave as he lit his cigarette with an old Zippo he had scavenged from the dump. Once smoke began to rise from the stick of dried leaves and paper in his hand, he turned to look out over the treetops, and up at the stars. It was a beautiful clear night, even if it was colder than Muffet’s soul. He wouldn’t trade the fresh crisp air and this view for every one of those fucks left under the mountain. They could all rote for all he gave a damn!

As far as he could tell this place was relatively peaceful, and that suited him just fine. It meant his bro’ was safe. It meant they could relax a bit. Maybe, given he was lucky, his bro would back off on the whole ‘boss’ stick that was logged up his ass and show come of that compassion Sans knew was in his soul somewhere. How did he know it was there? He had raised the monster from an early age. Done a shit job of it but he had, and in those early days he was such a caring monster it damn near bade his teeth fall out.

That also meant it was up to him to literally beat that kindness out of the baby bones. Something that damn near dusted Sans at the time with how much it hurt him to do so. He didn’t know how else to teach his brother to be strong. He knew that if he taught his brother the lessons the underground had taught him, he could at least ease how hard the rod came down on his brother. At the time, he couldn’t find a way to spare Papyrus from it though. Heh, he was reaping what he sewed. Now his brother beat him regularly as a show to other monsters that he wasn’t even soft for family (even if Sans knew better), had dust on his own skeletal hand, was even directly under Undick (he meant Undine, yah, not). 

His thoughts on the subject could go no farther though as the slight curling of grey smoke cleared the tree line, causing his ever-present grin to stretch taut as if he had tasted something terrible. Sure, him and his bro had heard the echoing of loud ass sounds earlier but to hell, if he knew what they were from as they echoed around the mountainside. But his metaphorical gut was telling him those echoes and that smoke were related.

Just what they fuckin’ needed. People…

\--------------------------------------------------------Break-----------------------------------------------------

Y/N stumbled as she felt her soul begin to play ‘intent’ tug-of-war with the one she was currently trying to help. She felt so…light, so bubbly and, dare she say it, absolutely giddy with joy and it felt so _wrong_. This extremely optimistic and rather carefree feeling was definitely not hers and it left her feeling overwhelmed and confused as it contrasted her focus and worry drastically, leaving her to stumble around the overly bright area she was in.

It was as if the soul she had pierced to fix had sensed her intent to help and decided there was no need to do so. Instead, it tried to overpower her intent to help with its own intent to keep her from worrying over it. It began to play tug of war with her consciousness the moment she ‘touched down’. Leaving her eyes to grow fuzzy and prisms of light to decorate the edges of her vision as her metaphorical stomach churned, from how desperately the soul was trying to convince hers that it was fine. That she should leave.

Through her haze she felt her astral self-stumble over a bump in the walking surface as she toppled over, landing rather harshly on the blinding white space below her. Weakly she lifted herself up slightly to look back to see what she had tripped over. There, not a foot away from where she had landed was a spiderwebbed crack that she instinctively recognized as one of the cracks that had splintered off from the large fisher that was trying to completely divide the soul. It reminded her that there was no time to adjust to being within another’s soul without their permission. No matter how much the soul didn’t think she needed to be here, as a one-way soul thread that it could not communicate with, she was there to help save this monster. Even if the monster didn’t know it needed help.

Her intent solidified, giving her the ability to stand solidly, as she passed through the vast white nothingness that protected the soul. She had to remember to be careful while she was here. The soul was going to try to reject her presence at every turn or try to open a proper two-way link. She did not know this monster, so there were a plethora of ways this could turn out that were not in her favor.

Her resolve solidified; Y/N faltered slightly as she suddenly felt stone beneath her feet accompanied by an overwhelming heat. It was odd, to know something was hot, or that it was there, yet it was somehow wholly untaggable. Though that was nothing compared the town she had suddenly stepped into.

Parts of it looked as if they had been scrapbooked with confetti, glitter, cut-outs from magazines, a little bit of Crayola crayons, you name it. The other part looked solid, completely memorized, and detailed to a T. She felt as if she was looking at an art project started by a child but finished by an adult. Or one with three or 4 different artists working on it with completely different styles.

As she walked, the ‘hotter’ it got, and consequently the thirstier she became. She felt like a foreign contaminant in a human body, and now its goal was to become so warm she would be eradicated, or leave. This caused her metaphorical throat to burn with thirst and her mouth feel like sandpaper. As if the soul knew, she heard the water from behind her, and there in the middle of a plaza stood a beautiful ornate water fountain with crisp clear glittering water. Trickling away like a gentle stream in the mountains.

This manipulative little….

He was clever, she would give him that. His soul had created a bright and sunny environment that resembled a desert town with the sun beating down on her only to wait until her mouth was as dry as a bucket of salt then placed a beautiful glittering water source before her. Tempting her to drink. Oh-ho-ho, as clever as he thought he was she knew better. If she drank from that water fountain, she would be accepting an offering from this monster’s soul. The very idea alone was a rather intimate and sacred thing, but to actually do it would also effectively be starting a soul link. Depending on the intent behind it, it could even create a soul bond; and that was something she was not keen on doing.

She did have to wonder how the soul knew she was growing ‘thirsty’ though as their ling should be one way…

Turning away from the glittering, cool, liquid temptation, going into the nearest establishment. A place, she noted, was called Muffet’s. What she saw inside had her almost in stitches of laughter. The inside looked as if it was drawn and colored by a 6 or 7-year-old with an obsession with medieval themes and ribbons, then was attacked with glitter glue and confetti. The monsters inside varied from childlike 2d drawings to realistic, extremely detailed beings. Giving her the idea that, while this monster knew many of his comrades, he was not as well acquainted with some of them as he was with others.

As she tried to maneuver through the crowd to see if she could find the consciousness that belonged to this soul she realized this was some kind of grand celebration. Her eyes scanned around until they settled on the slumped form of an orange hoodie that looked vaguely familiar. She felt she had seen it just recently, before starting this…’ quest’, but she could not pinpoint where.

Right as she was about to move in the direction of what was familiar, hoping it was a lead, she was scooped up into a one-armed hug of comradery by a Yellow lizard-like monster. Golden yellow scales covered their whole body with some scaring peaking out from around the eye patch on her left eye. Her teeth were sharp, menacing if they weren’t somehow dulled at the tip. Her black armor looked almost ridiculous with it’s pointed shoulder pauldrons. Y/n couldn’t help but feel they were for aesthetic more than function, as it looked like it made it hard to walk through doorways. If she had time to imagine this monster in their current garb trying to walk through a door she would have been laughing so hard she might have tried. But now was not the time.

What it was time for, however, was a toast! Not that she knew that as a beer stein that was close to encompassing her torso was shoved into her hands. She would admit to no one that she almost dropped said stein, as it was heavier than it looked. If she admitted she almost dropped a metaphorical drink in a metaphorical pup of sorts in someone’s soul her pride would definitely take the hit.

“To Sans!” the monster next to her called, followed by an uproar of cheers and agreement as they all toasted to Sans.

Sans…oh….oh no….

Maybe she should have thought a bit more about the parallel universe theories before simply diving into the procedure. Not that it would have changed her actions, of course. She could not just let someone die when she had a way to save him. However, this complicated things a bit as there would be an echo of her bond with her Sans, and suddenly this soul knowing just how ‘thirsty’ she was made so much sense. It craved to create the link it felt shimmers of. How much more persistent would the soul become to create the link?

“What? Having a hard time lifting it? I’ll Help ya’, you wuss!” was the boisterous cheer of the yellow monster next to her. Brought out of her musings rather abruptly she opened her mouth to protest only to have the large Stein shoved back for her. After the first splash of flavor hit her mouth, she closed it, swallowing instinctively before spluttering and doing her best to lower the wooden mug so she didn’t drown in the sweet spider cider. As she attempted to clear her airways she was hoisted up with a borage of apologies before being plopped back down onto a barstool.

A cloth was handed to her to clean off her face. She took it absentmindedly as she hacked and coughed, a slow and steady realization coming to her as her back was being ‘pat’ (See smacked) by Alphys as she tried to help. She gasped and gently pushed the monster away as she fought back internal panic.

She should not have known what was in that Stein!

She should not know this yellow monster’s name!

The only way she would know is….

Her soul brought back the taste of Spider cider to the forefront of her thoughts, causing her to still, eyes growing wide.

What had she done?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took me so long!!!!!  
> I can't tell you how many times I re-wrote this to get it set up for the rest of the Soul exploration and experiences later in this story. Even now I don't feel like it is 'right', but I think you guys have waited long enough. 
> 
> Also, I had to stop myself from having the entire soul experience with Swap!Sans in this chapter....it's close to 5000 plus words and it's not even fully finished.  
> So I guess I wanna know if you guys and gals prefer chapters of this general length or would you guys mind if I made them longer?


	5. Curiosities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh...I'm back?....maybe....

Now, all monsters know it is rude to look upon another’s soul without their permission. It is not simply rude but it is scandalous! Like peeking at someone through a window without their knowledge while they change. You see them exposed, their most personal and private thoughts and feelings laid out on display. Their deepest secrets broadcast for the viewer to see. Even the source of their drive to live, their soul trait as it were, can be seen. By seeing someone’s soul you are truly looking at them. You see them for all that they are. 

That is why Papyrus turned away the moment Miss Y/n pulled her soul and the soul of the younger monster before her out into the open. That was also why Sans was slowly drawing closer. Moved by his curiosity, his patient need to know just how souls worked. He had dedicated a good portion of his notable youth and his adult life to studying souls. Both human and monster. How each soul worked. What made human souls so different than monster souls? How monster souls could relate to human souls. 

Sure, he was far more interested in quantum theory, physics, even mathematical equations, but he studied souls for the King and the wellbeing of monster kind before the resets started and he opted to laze about as a century instead. After all, he was uniquely qualified to do so, work on souls that is. As he naturally had a mass amount of knowledge on souls and their more technical workings. If someone where to ask sans where he got the information, he would not be able to tell them. Simply that he knew it when he woke up on one of the catwalks of the core with his brother when they were in their adolescence. 

As he moved closer, shuffling forward with phalanges placed upon his knee caps, he realized just how dangerous this operation could be first hand. 

Though both souls were white, they each had a slight tint to the color, as most monster souls did. The inverted soul of the monster (who was he kidding, that was a younger doppelganger of himself) had the slightest of pearlescent blue shimmers. The rectified human soul shimmered like the cleaned inside of the oyster that holds the pearl, and just like the oyster, in the center of the soul was a deep red pearl that was so obscured by the magical soul that covered it made the shape hard to discern. 

Sans was no fool though, he knew exactly what the red center to her soul meant.

It was artificial. Something given life through test tubes full of volatile substances such as concentrated magic and raw determination extract mixed together just right with a chunk of donor material for the artificial soul to latch onto in hopes it will create a corporal form before being dropped into an incubation tank. 

He couldn’t help but wonder if this was how all ‘half cast' were created, through artificial means… or if she was unique. Did all half cast souls look like that, or was she the only artificial soul? 

Sans watched as the ‘half cast’ soul pressed the tip of the soul thread it had created against the outer layer of the monster’s soul. Slowly and patiently applying pressure until it pierced the pearlescent blue soul. Once pierced, it swiftly weaving itself in a stitched pattern between each side of the crack that was splitting down the monster’s soul before suddenly stopping.

  
The tip of the thread the half cast soul had created was buried in the monster soul before him, frozen in the act of creating a stitch. The mother of pearl like strand began to quiver in what felt like panic as the blue pearled soul began to weave its own strand, like a Chinese finger trap, up the line that had pierced it. It was constricting as it worked its way up. Unyielding and demanding as it refused to allow the woman’s soul to move, be it forward or back, in its task. It was sudden and almost violent as the pearled blue strand the monster had created sunk its tip into the far thicker thread of the half cast soul. 

Sans watched as her body wheezed in a breath at the involuntary start of a link. Her soul beginning to perspire magic in protest. It acted as if it was trying to raise its magical potency to burn the intruding soul and dissuade it from proceeding further with the bond it was trying to make. 

It was evident she did not want to bond with the monster. The monster’s string wiggled and writhed, trying its hardest to weave itself deeper into the life line created with the soul intent to save the monsters life that the woman had created. It reminded him of a worm trying desperately to get back to the safety of its cool dark home below the earth while ignorantly laying atop stone. The more the monster soul tried to delve deeper the more distressed the other soul became. Soon her soul began to pulse, steadily growing more rapid. 

  
The dust that had once been her flesh mixed with the perspiring magic causing the pulsing soul to grow muddied. Sans knew normal souls were not that solid, not even the souls of humans. Yet this soul was solid enough to be dirtied and panicked as it fought to keep itself from having a lifelong mate it didn’t know. 

Sans hands moved instinctively at the thought that her soul was currently being violated and force fed information about the other monster, creating the start of a soul link that would inevitably turn to a bond if not stopped. His hands cupped the doppelgangers soul without touching it. His magic sparked to life in his left eye as his doppelganger’s soul and it’s thread was incased in an light blue, halting it in its writhing. 

Sans loosed the ‘breath’ he didn’t realize he had been holding before hearing a slight gruff from his right. He dared glance to the side for only a moment, seeing the serious look of the mix matched eyes of his canine counterpart lock with his eye lights before nodding in appreciation. The flesh covered canine version of himself moved around the group of three, eyes moving to examine the souls in much the same way sans had not long ago. 

While his canine doppelganger set about assessing the situation Sans felt something he had not even fathomed. Her soul, her magic, her very being curiously and ever so tenderly brushed his magic, the extension of himself and it sent shivers down his spine. Oh…oohh~...he…he had never had anyone do that before. Sure, people had performed checks on his soul to see if he was ‘ok’ but this was different. More personal in a way he could not describe. He had always known that his magic was an extension and expression of his very soul but he had never considered it to be so…sensual. To have her brush his magic was almost as if she had brushed the inside of his rib or the spot where his spine meets his skull.

He felt his sockets widen as his magic moved closer to the soul thread of its own accord. His magic had not done that, acting on its own, since he was first learning to control it. Despite him not consciously inching his magic closer to her he felt uncharacteristically nervous over weather she would give his magic attention once more. The thought that she would do so again caused his joints to glow just a smidge bit brighter before his soul began to thump.

He felt her soul sense his magic properly so that she could recall him later on his magic signature alone…and if that didn’t cause his soul to trumpet in elation at the notion that she had taken enough interest in him to imprint his magical signature into her soul then nothing did. 

He was brought back into his surroundings, however, when her canine Sans leaned in to bring his nose close to her soul. He took a long deep breath through his nose, before losing the breath back over the souls in a billowing mist of light blue with sparks of green. If sans could respond in a manner that fit the sight before him, his eye lights would have disappeared, but for now he had to concentrate on holding the younger soul in his grasp still. Yet he watched with fascination as the misted magic was drawn to the soul of the woman. The pounding and dirtied soul stilled for a moment, before it looked as if it took in a deep breath, and with that deep breath of sorts the misted magic was absorbed into the soul. It truly was awe inspiring as the dirtied soul collected itself. It shivered away the now muddy dust as if it was water. It soon swelled with a renewed vigor for the task at hand, the stitching starting anew. 

A glint off to the right caught sans attention. There, made of the thinnest spider silk woven together to create what seamed to be a thick cable. The cable was the now visible soul bond that tethered his canine counter part to the Half-cast woman. If he looked closely at the soul before him he could see the thin strand of his canine counterparts soul woven with intricate perfection into the woman’s very soul. Peeking out here and there as it glinted every now and then a luminescent blue-ish white against the pearled soul. 

The realization hit sans like a brick to the skull, and a stab to the soul. The fact that the two were a bonded pair washed over his sudden excitement at her interest in him like an ice-cold bucket of water. To know simply with a glance that they had been bonded so long that the link was akin to the cables one saw holding up bridges…

Solid and sturdy, it linked the two with no flaws, no imperfections. Built from trust, love and time; it was a bond one could only dream about. One only heard about in fables of familiars and romance stories that told fanciful tails of soul mates. Not even his bond with his brother was quite so impregnable. 

He forced his eye lights away from the souls and their link, focusing on the task at hand despite the thumping in his chest from his own soul as it cried out in indignation that it’s special one, its perceived perfect match, was already pared with another; even if the bond was a familial one. Yet he felt his indignation turned to agitation as he realized where these feelings stemmed from. The moment in the woods when his soul called to hers, how hers had called back in a manner that just felt right. Even if he snacked the very notion of affection for this woman away like an angry cat.

It all made so much sense and he hated it. His sudden affection for her, and his desire to be the center of her attention. The happiness he felt when she was caring for his brother in such a tender and motherly way that, despite his logical mind saying otherwise, had his soul swelling with pride. A sudden yearning for a souling had bloomed in his chest at that time. A thought that had never once crossed his mind before that moment. But it had bloomed there with the soul purpose to have her be the mother.

Now he knew, however, that these feelings truly were not his. They were caused by the echo of the very bond his canine counterpart and y/n shared. The one that was currently saving her life and keeping her grounded so she could save the younger soul in his phalanges. His soul thumped in despair at the realization that his feelings for her were mere echoes. It thumped at the idea that the dog was good enough to create a bond, but he, a being far more compatible to her …needs, was not. He should be the one who had bonded with her! He could take care of her better than a damn dog version of himself! Sure, he was lazy and apathetic, but he could be better! He could provide for her, keep her safe, please her…

What in the ever-loving angel above was he thinking?! He had only met the woman a couple of hours earlier, at most! Not only that but she had proven to have strong magical capabilities, and in his experience with humans, that was a very bad thing. 

Though brief, with his loss of concentration, so too did the hold on the soul slip. Oh, and did it take advantage of the momentary distraction of his capture to plunge further into the string, weaving upward in the direction of Y/n soul with a zest of energy sans had not expected from anyone remotely similar to himself. Quickly he clamped his magic back around the little opportunist as it seemed to almost mock him for getting distracted. It’s desire to create a romantic bond with Y/N was so potent he could taste it, even feel the need to love and be loved in his very own soul as the younger San’s feelings echoed in him.

…had that been what happened? Had those feelings stemmed from being so close to a soul that was only a few molecules and life experiences away from being his very own? Was it the influence of having the bonded canines soul present, even though it was not visible, and the easily swayed young soul in his hand that had caused his sudden, dare he say it, jealousy?


	6. Home is Where the Heart is.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm....just gonna leave this riiiiight here......  
> It is another shorter one, just a heads up....sorry.

Y/n felt herself panic more as the ‘world’ around her continued to become overbearing. Pressing down on her as if it expected something of her that she simply couldn’t, and wouldn’t, comprehend or accept. Even if it was getting harder to know what that was, or even why she was here. It was simply all too much. So much so she felt her astral self pulls with the panic that felt as if it was attacking her. In the background she heard the celebration continue as the monsters around her continued with all the congratulatory hooting and hollering. It was something about how Sans had apparently found a mate…she thinks.

She sat hunched over the bar, cradling her head in her hands as she tried desperately to regain her senses. There was a searing white light that blinded her from the back of her eyes. Sparking like professional grade fireworks that she was far to close to enjoy. With every sound, no matter the volume, would spark another blinding white flare and with every explosion of white her fingers wound themselves tighter and tighter into her hair in a desperate attempt to ground herself.

Her chest contracted again and again as she struggled to convince her muscles that a full breath in was necessary. Instead her chest burned with every attempted breath as the invisible vice of panic clamped down tighter with every raspy wese that was a pitiful attempt to draw in a breath. She was vaguely aware that she had managed to take half of a wheezed gasp in, filling her mouth and nose with sweet oxygen only to instantly regret it as the scents she registered from the scene around her had her spiraling further into panic. Her nose practical screamed in protest at the over stimulation, to the point it almost stung. This in turn cause her gut to twist and wrench itself however it pleased as it threatened to expel the contents accost the pretty and pristine bar she was leaning on.

“hey, y/n, honey, are you ok?” a soft but smooth voice drawled. She was supplied with the knowledge that the voice who spoke to her belonged to one Papyrus, younger brother of her betrothed, Sans. Be-betro---- that isn’t…..she’s not….

Tears welled in her eyes and she hunched over to the point her head rested on the cool bar top. Her hands moving to ease the quivering of her panic-stricken body. This isn’t what she wanted! No, no, no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,n-----

…. suddenly everything was quiet…...

The world around her was blissfully stilled, allowing her panic-stricken soul to calm just enough to take in a proper breath. With that breath she realized she was no longer being force fed information. The concept had her breathing out through her mouth in a slow breath as she lifted her head just enough to peak about the shop, her arms still wrapped around her buzzing and hyper aware body.

Everything in the shop was frozen in mid action. Alphies hand was raised as if she was about to clap it upon Y/n’s back. A spider monster by the name of Muffet was walking over to her with a tray of sweets with a worried look aimed in y/n’s direction.

Righting herself her eyes fell on the orange clad monster that was beside her. His skeletal hand half outstretched in her direction, a bottle of honey in his other hand, and a worried look creased the ridge of his sockets, with his teeth turned down in a slight frown. She knew that this was Papyrus, or rather a Papyrus. He looked so much like the Serif she had saved earlier, yet the evident youth that softened his high cheek bones and softened the angle of his jaw told her he was much younger than the monster she had saved. If she had to guess he wasn’t long out of stripes, as it were.

Her eyes flicked about the rest of the room only to see stines and mugs of Spider cider were frozen in the sloshing aftermath of a toast as monsters of all shapes and sizes stood, or sat, still as statues with a waft of blue mist hovering around the room. That very same blue mist hovered around her person with the respectable space of about 6 inches.

Her curiosity peaked, she shifted into a full upright sitting position, noting that the mist kept that 6 inch distance. That…That was magic, wasn’t it?

Who’s magic?

Her hand moved out quickly to brush her fingertips through the airy substance only to shiver slightly as a calm and patient feeling washed over her. As soon as that calm came, however, it left just as quick as her fingers finished their pass through the mist. The feeling was familure yet oh so forin. The concept caused her brow to furrow as she watched the mist she had disturbed swirl in little spirals before curling up and into her direction slowly; almost tentative in its movements.

The intent behind the movement was evident even to her muddled soul. It wanted her to interact with it, to catalog it into her instinctual database. But not just any part of her instinctual database of magical signature, oh no. It was seeking acceptance to be more than a simple acquaintance…to be accepted into her very soul. If her soul wasn’t so desperate to feel that calm again, she probably would have never done the intimate action the magic was asking for. Yet she allowed herself to turn and stand, one arm clenched over her chest, the other wrapped around her waist in a mockery of a hug before boldly stepping into the mist, and just as before, the calming patience washed over her.

Suddenly she was sitting on a porch swing, swaying slightly with a warm mug in her hands. Her eyes overlooking the calming aftermath of a summer rain. Droplets of water rolled down leaves of large oak trees before falling softly to the earth beneath. The smell of fresh rain and damp soil mixed with the slight scent of ozone that seemed to give the ‘air’ a crisp fresh smell. It was truly a calming serenity she could get lost in…

There was a subtle shift in the air and like a fluffy woolen blanket, y/n was ingulfed in familiarity that settled deep within her soul. Her soul settled into the warmth like one would when wrapped in a sleeping bag beneath the stars. The calm of a clear sky embraced her as the warmth of her k-9 companion snuggled up beside her, his trademark smile in place. The cool crisp air filled her as the stars above cleansed her of her worries with the aid of crickets chirping and the gentle crackle of a campfire in the background. A soft smile quirked her lips to the right a bit as she took a deep breath, her hand scratching idly behind Sans cute floppy ear. To be in the calm and the quiet of the countryside, with the crisp spring air cooling the night, basking in the wonder the sky above has to offer was like a calming balm over her panicked and muddled mind. She was no longer trapped, nor was she being coerced through intent manipulation (something she was all to familure with). No…this was relaxation. This was warmth and love. This was companionship and trust. After all, this…

This was home…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I would appreciate feedback. Both good and bad as both help me grow as a writer! 
> 
> Thank you all for taking the time to read this!

**Author's Note:**

> Please don't run away with my versions of the Undertale characters. there are obviously the AUS we all know and love as well as the original works but the MountainTale Au's are my own creation. Thanks! also, I have a picture of the boys in dog form, as soon as I figure out how to put it on here I will share it with you guys! Feel free to let me know what you think. Good and bad!


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